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Free kitchen utensil plans

Wooden kitchen utensils were used since ancient times, when people began to make the first tools. Archaeological evidence of a wooden spoon use came from ancient Egypt, the first forks came from ancient Greece, and bamboo Chopsticks had been used in China 5000 years ago. Ancient Romans expanded the use of wooden kitchen utensils across the Europe and The Middle East, and they had also been used by Native Americans at the time of the first settlers’ arrival. In the beginning, kitchen utensils were made of wood, because wood was easily accessible and processed material, and later on, when people began to make kitchen utensils of metal, wooden utensils had become a hallmark of poverty.

Today, market offers us very wide range of kitchen utensils, with very wide selection of materials, designs, quality and purpose. When purchasing, we are lead primarily by the fact why we need utensil for, and after that by price, quality and design. The most used materials for kitchen utensils production are wood, stainless steel, ceramics, glass, plastic and many others. We often can see utensils made of inadequate materials, both from healthy and practical aspect - aspect of use. Whether you cook every day or only occasionally, that moment when kitchen utensils are used, it becomes evident whether they beside esthetic value have also practical value.

Wood is often used for kitchen utensils production, because for some utensils, beside tradition, it has numerous advantages compared to the other materials. Compared to plastic, wood is firm, it won’t melt when it comes in touch with hot dishes and it is natural. Unlike metal utensils, wood won’t scratch the most delicate cooking surfaces and it does not conduct the heat. Some kitchen utensils are always made of wood, because of both traditional and practical reasons. This type of utensils are, for example, ladle, cutting boards, rolling pins, trivets and meat hammer. There are numerous other utensils made of wood, such as fruit bowls, salad forks, serving spoons, spatula, spice boxes, bread boxes, pestle and mortar, spoons…

For kitchen utensils production we can use different types of wood, but the fact is that wood should be hard, so that kitchen utensils could be more durable. Wood with large pores should be avoided, because pores would keep food particles which will enable bacterial development. Recommended wood types are orchard woods like apple or pear wood and also olive, maple, cottonwood, basswood, beech, birch, cherry, hornbeam, hickory, Osage orange, bamboo and many others. Wood types we should avoid are most of softwoods, because they contain resins that can discharge into food and give it an undesirable taste. Some types, such as Oak or Black walnut, contain high tannin content and they can turn black when they come in contact with some food type. We should also avoid most tropical hardwoods, because some of them contain substances that can be dangerous or cause allergic reactions, and a huge number of tropical wood species don’t always come from managed sources and so, with the purchase, you maybe encourage unwillingly destruction of tropical rainforests. Wood types you should never use are those that are proven to be poisonous or have this reputation, such as, for example, Poison Ivy vine, or those that cause allergic reactions.

Maintaining wooden utensils is easy if few rules are followed: They should be washed by hand, with hot water and mild detergent, and after that, dry them well. Never leave them in the water for too long and they should not be washed in a dishwasher. If maintained properly, they will last long and won’t get damaged. Plastics industry claims that using of wood is not safe because it can keep bacteria, and many people tend to believe that claim, but science has proven that’s not true. It was confirmed that wood has more antibacterial features than any material made by human. Of course, this applies if you maintain them properly. If you leave utensils dirty, the dirt will grow bacteria regardless material utensils are made of.

There are numerous discussions on how to protect and maintain wooden kitchen utensils. Most often you will find recommendation that they should be occasionally wiped with a napkin soaked in food-safe mineral oil, and note that for this purpose should not be used vegetable oils, such as, for example, Olive oil, because they will go rancid which can lead to stomach problems. Opposing arguments again suggest that mineral oils (paraffin oils) are not natural, and that should be used natural oils which need longer period of time to go rancid, compared to Olive oil. Mentioned oil of that type is Coconut oil that also has antibacterial and antiviral features. Because of these conflicting claims, we will not suggest you how to protect your wooden kitchen utensils. We will mention our observations: in contact with food, wooden utensils come in contact with fats, so you should consider whether the additional coating is necessary. Utensils that exclusively come in contact with food that’s not fatty (for example, spoon for flour) are not exposed to frequent wetting and therefore they can last long without any protection. Our family for generations uses wooden kitchen utensils without any additional coating, and the only maintaining is washing them after use, good drying and keeping them in the dry place, and they will last for years. We change them when we want to treat ourselves with new utensils, and not because wood is damaged due to poor maintenance.

Wooden kitchen utensils can not be easily found and purchased in the stores that surround us, and even if we find them there, selection is very poor, and we are not sure of what type of wood they are made of. Because of that, we offer plans for wooden cutting boards, bread boards, wooden scoops, wooden trivets, pestle and mortar, wooden nutcrackers, rolling pin, wooden bowls and others. They mainly belong to the group Preparation and serving equipment. When you make kitchen utensils by yourself, you are sure of type and quality of wood you’re using, quality of production, you can customize dimensions that suit you the most and you decide whether to leave wood natural and what type of finishing to use.